2020 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program National Forum

Please join us at the COAP National Forum, the premier federal conference for communities addressing the opioid crisis. This annual event is hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program. Altarum's experts in state and community opioid crisis response will be attending the event, and have organized several sessions on peer recovery supports. 

The COAP National Forum brings together criminal justice and behavioral health professionals from across the country to share promising and evidence-based strategies, tools, case studies, and projects that are turning the tide of America's opioid epidemic. 

Altarum will share our experience working with grantees of the COAP to implement peer recovery support services, an important part of comprehensive community efforts to address the opioid crisis and other substance use disorders.

Below is a summary of the peer recovery support sessions.  

Peer Support Across the Sequential Intercepts: Using the Power of Lived Experience

Peer supports can be a vital part of efforts to assist individuals with opioid use disorders across the criminal justice intercepts. This session will focus on peer support models and programs based on partnerships between jurisdictions and community-based organizations, featuring four mentor sites from the BJA COAP Peer Recovery Support Services Mentoring Initiative (PRSSMI).  

Peer Recovery Support, Recovery Housing, and Employment

SAMHSA’s working definition of recovery includes home—having a stable and safe place to live—and purpose, with meaningful daily activities such as a job, an income, and resources to participate in society.  For ex-offenders, these supports are also important for desistance from criminal behavior. Peer-based housing and employment supports are emerging as resources for assisting offenders in meeting these needs. 

State, County, and Local Policies that Support Peer Recovery

Increasingly, peer recovery support services are an important—and sometimes central—part of efforts to effectively address the opioid epidemic. Peer-based services can be a vital part of the continuum of care; jurisdictions can increase the impact of such programs through effective policymaking. 

Peer Supports in Rural and Tribal Communities

In rural and tribal communities, programs supporting individuals on their paths to recovery engage peers in a variety of ways. This session will focus on the approaches used in several experienced peer programs. 

Peer Support in Specialty Courts

Initial findings from a new research study indicate that peer support can be an effective way to help offenders who are assigned to drug courts to complete the program and achieve recovery.  This session will examine how peer recovery specialists can help specialty courts achieve their goals and what a collaborative, comprehensive program entails.